AC employee Pass Petition Part 3

[Guest bif the rat]

MEC NEWSLETTER #02-10

September 24th, 2002

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am amazed that we have seen the passage of another summer in what seems

like the "blink of an eye". I hope each of you enjoyed the time with family

and friends. Another fall season is just around the corner and those of us

with younger children have seen them off to school again. We have also

passed the anniversary of one of the most tragic events in civil aviation

history. We have had to adapt to new rules and regulations, which impact

upon each of us, every day of our working lives. Sadly, a lot of the

changes have amounted to nothing more than knee-jerk reactions, which have

done little to enhance the security of our aircraft.

We have seen Transport Canada impose new CARs, which restrict access to the

jumpseat and we have also recently received the latest FOM amendment on this

issue, which erodes the last vestige of the captain's authority to determine

who will have access to the jumpseat. I have recently discussed this issue

with Captain Hugh Campbell and tried to impress upon him the resentment that

exists among the pilots group over the removal of the captains’ discretion.

At the same time it seems that the Company is intent on creating the maximum

level of frustration within all of the mainline employee groups. The

decision to extend C2 pass priority to the Jazz employees could not have

come at a worse time for the Company. At each meeting we attend with senior

levels of management, we are reminded of the tenuous state of the Company's

financial affairs. We have been told that there are hundreds of cost

cutting initiatives underway which will improve the bottom line and yet, the

simplest most effective one continues to elude the imagination of the most

senior Company Executives. I am talking about the simple concept of respect

for your employees. It would seem that this is a concept that is so simple

it is beyond their grasp.

This issue is all about the exercise of power and control. The two most

senior Executives of the Company - the President and CEO and the Executive

Vice President for Corporate Development and Strategy - as well as the Board

of Directors, must be made to understand that the alienation of their

mainline employees will be counter-productive to achieving their long-term

goals. In order to reach its goals the Company needs to start working with

its employees, instead of against them. It is time to send a message to

them that we will not tolerate the harmonization of passes with the Jazz

employees. The Company is now exacerbating an already bad situation by

resorting to a "canned" response to any employee who voices their concern.

Their actions speak volumes on how they feel about us - let us let our

actions speak volumes about how we feel with their decision.

Captain Rainer Bauer

MEC Chair